About Willie

Former CEO of international companies

Columbia Business School professor

Consultant to global organizations for creating winning strategies.

Creator of the Strategic Learning Process.

Author of the book, Strategic Learning

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Willie's Blog Posts

The Latest Post

Five Dangerous Catchphrases That Lead Organizations Astray

“Bad terminology is the enemy of good thinking.” – Warren Buffett To solve a problem, we must identify its underlying cause. Flawed framing of the challenge can result in dire consequences. Think about the framing blunder that led to the collapse of General Motors. In the 1980s GM had captured over 50% of the North American auto market and seemed unassailable. Complacency set in and product quality slipped. Toyota and...

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Past Posts

Five Dangerous Catchphrases That Lead Organizations Astray

The Truth About Priorities: Five is Probably the Wrong Number

The Power of Communicating Without Words

Leading Through A Crisis: How to Learn Our Way to Success

Leading Through The Pandemic Crisis: The Trust Factor

Leading Up: The Neglected Competency

Why Strategy Is In Trouble

Want a Breakthrough Idea? Take a Hike

Five Time-Tested Ideas for Success

New Year’s Resolution: Escape the Calendar

Escaping the Tyranny of the Day-To-Day

Learning How To Learn

Great Decisions: An Art of Sacrifice

Why Strategy Is Everyone’s Job

The Strategy Q&A

What I Learned About Leadership From My Dog

Von Clausewitz on War: Six Lessons for the Modern Strategist

The Lessons of the Blind Men and the Elephant

Strategy Creation vs. Implementation: Avoiding the Trap

Outside-In Thinking: Crucial but Unnatural

Strategy At A Crossroads

What Nelson Mandela Taught the World About Leadership

Meet Willie

“If an organization can’t define its Winning Proposition in a simple way, it cannot claim to have a strategy.”

—from Strategic Learning

Willie Pietersen was raised in South Africa, and received a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. After practicing law, he embarked on an international business career. Over a period of twenty years he served as the CEO of multibillion-dollar businesses such as Lever Foods, Seagram USA, Tropicana and Sterling Winthrop’s Consumer Health Group.

In 1998, Pietersen was named Professor of the Practice of Management at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He specializes in strategy and the leadership of change, and his methods and ideas, especially Strategic Learning, are widely applied within Columbia’s executive education programs, and also in numerous corporations.

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Strategic Learning
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The Workbook
A toolkit for applying the Strategic Learning method. Read more Buy